Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-01-26

.he Peculiar Interest Always Evinced
by scholars and Antiquarians in the
Sacred aud Mysterious Name OF God.
The Pronunciation Lost.
Once each year, on the Day of Atone
mcnt while the Jewish temple al Jerusa-
lem remained, the high priest was accus-
toned to pronounce upon the bowed and
awe stricken multitude Of worshipers the
blessing which contained the mysteri-
Gus name of God. On no other occasion,
and from the lips Of no other person, could
this name be spoken. and when the sacred
city fell before the Roman armies, and
the temple itself was razed to the ground,
the ceremony likewise perished and the
name was lost.
A peculiar interest in this extraordinary
name has always been cvinceh by scholars
and antiquarianS. There is something in
the mystery that surrounds it, that ap-
pealS alike TO the strict religiOnist and 70
the investigator whose only motive is the
desire to explore the region of the obsure
What was this name that could not even
he pronounced without blasphemy, and
which has in consequence passed away
from the knowledge nf mankind
As is well known, the consonants Of the
name are JHVH or YHNH: and since the
time of the Hebraist Galatinus the pOpu-
lar usage has been to pronounce it JehO-
vah, following the example of that scholar.
Yet no one believes this to be in any way
correct, and the ingenuity OF hundreds of
commentators has been taxed to restore
the original vowels. The name itself.
however it was primarily pronounced, Is
one of marvellous antiquity. II is derived
from verb, but was almost forgotten in
the time Of Moses, and its origin is abso-
lutely lost in the miSts of an antiquity
that makes the pyramids seem insuffer-
ably modern.
TOO SACRED TO BE SPOKEN.
II was the essentially national name
given to the Creator by the Jews-the
name by which they thought Of Him in
the privacy of their own homes, in the
presence of their own sltars-too sacred to
be spoken, save once each year, and by
the lips Of the consecrated priest Of the
Most High. So hedged about was it with
reverence that the Rabbins did not even
dare TO write about it, but allude to it
mysteriously as The Name" or The
Name of Four Letters" in which the
llht"lSS lbllb" ICi,
although it seems 50 wholly Jewish, some
of the most singular condolences are to he
found in the usage of other ancient
languages. In the Chinese, some thou
sand years before Christ, there are allu-
siOns TO a name Of three mystical letters,
INV" denoting that which none can
comprehend. Among the Ph9nicians the
name had equal reverence; the Greek
writers speak of the great name" which
they imperfectly give as IEUO or lao;
and an inscription in the adytsm by the
temple OF Isis at the Egyptian Sais recalls
the same dread tetrsgrammation. II
would seem almost as though this We're
the title by which primeval man was
divinely taught 10 worship his creator.
As has been said, the name, so far as
can be learned, has never been pro-
nounced since Titus destroyed the temple
at Jerusalem in A. ID. 20. Whether be-
fore that time it was ever in any way
fully committed to writing is quite un-
known. Some of the rabbins who are un-
able TO deny that the recorded miracles Of
Christ were actually wrought, declare
that he accomplished them by accidentally
gaining possession of parchment in
which The Name was fully written,
and which thus conferred upon its owner
extraordinary and supernatural powers.
THE SECRET WHOLLY LOST
Whether previously written or not, it
must have been so recorded after Jerusa-
lem fell, for We learn OF individuals who
preserved the true pronunciation for many
centuries. JOsephus, in his Antiquities,
speaks of the name, but says that it would
l,a l., ,x-frl hin, 70 luf Tb..
Jewish Mishna speaks of Jew named
KamZar who was aware of the sound Of
the letters. In fact, as late as the year
1850 the oriental Leusden met Jew at
Amsterdam who profeSsed to be able to
utter them correctly. His family, he
said, had preserved the traditional pro-
nunciatiOn by means Of writing. Leus-
den offered the man large sum Of money
if he would utter the word just once, and
his offer was accepted; but shortly after,
and before the payment had been made,
so great terror seized upon him as to
seal his lips, nor could he be persuaded
either by bribes or entreaties to perform
his promise.
The secret, therefore, must be regarded
as wholly lost; nor, perhaps, would a spirit
of reverence desire ii to be discovered,
though even the most orthodox Christians
regard the Jewish feeling about the name
as nothing better than a superstition.
Whatever one may think, the mystery
that surrounds the whole subject appeals
very strongly to the imagination, as is
seen in the melancholy end of a we'll
known American scholar, who devoted his
whole life to an investigation of the name,
and upon whose mind the question wrought
81 strongly rs to produce insanity.
II may be of interest TO gi7e the various
pl ,'nunciations that different scholars have
considered the most probable. Cappel
would have it YahYoh; Furst, Yeheveh;
Mercer, Ychvch, and Wright, Yahaveh;
but perhaps the majority Of Orientalists
incline TO iahveh. In reading the Hebrew
Scriptures the Jews themselves never pro
nounce the word mt all, but substitute the
ordinary AdOnai, or Lord. Home Jour
nal